Enter the King
by GodzillaMaster
Summary: A heavily damaged Collector ship has been spotted near a previously dormant mass relay, the Illusive Man sends Commander Shepard to investigate what's on the other side. What will the Normandy find? Will it be a threat? Read and review
1. Chapter 1: A New Foe?

Chapter 1: A New Foe?

* * *

**Boltzmann System**

The door to the Normandy SR-2's communication room opens up to let Commander Jessica Shepard, a fairly attractive woman with shoulder length blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes, enter as the conference table lowers into the floor. The recently resurrected woman looks at the quantum entanglement communicator on the floor and sighs in both annoyance and disgust at the idea of having to talk with the Illusive Man, and this had to be right after her mission on Bekenstein.

Stepping onto the QEC, Jessica finds herself looking at the Illusive Man and his unnaturally creepy looking eyes. "What do you want?"

The Illusive Man simply blows out a small cloud of smoke from the cigarette, "Yes, I've received reports from several of my operatives that they've identified a heavily damaged Collector ship coming out of a previously dormant mass relay. I need you to go and find out what's on the other side of the relay. If there's an unknown on the other side is powerful enough to send a Collector ship fleeing, we need to know if it's a threat to the rest of us. We don't need another Rachni War because of the Collectors."

"So you're sending me to deal with an angry unknown faction and try to keep them from attacking the rest of the galaxy?"

"Correct Shepard, I know that you're attempting to protect humanity from the Collectors, but this time the entire galaxy is at stake. I'm uploading the coordinates to the relay, good luck Shepard."

As their conversation ended, Jessica groans in disgust; it was bad enough that she was talking to the man who arranged for her entire squad eaten by Thresher Maws, it was even worse that she was taking orders from him.

"Joker, set a course for those coordinates."

"Aye Commander."

* * *

"Stealth systems engaged, going through the relay now."

The relay jump was the same as any other mass relay jump, the only surprise that Jessica saw was on the other side. As they flew through the system, the commander was able to spot the destroyed remains of two Collector ships.

"What could be in this system that it requires three Collector ships?"

"Your guess is as good as mine Commander, but by the looks of those ships, it's gotta be a new species that they want to study."

Looking out of the cockpit, Jessica had to agree. The ships near the shattered remains of the Collector ships, were long, rivaling the size of the Collector ships, and black with a narrow red stripe on both sides running from stern to bow, where it ends with a massive drill. Why a starship would need a drill, Jessica doesn't know, although she can probably guess it was made for ramming. On top of the ship, near the stern, was a raised section, possibly a bridge while below the main body looked like the engines, so those may be weaknesses in case this race proved hostile; however, given the assorted cannons that she can see dotted on its hull through the close-up view of the ships, they look like that they could go toe-to-toe with Sovereign and maybe even win.

The silence in the air is interrupted the instant one of the holographic screens starts beeping, signifying that they were being hailed; Joker of course was in complete disbelief, "The hell? They're hailing us, how can they find us with the stealth up?"

"Never mind that Joker, play the message."

The pilot nods as he opens the channel; of course, since they were dealing with an entirely new race, they weren't able to even understand what the other side was saying, just a bunch of growling. Knowing that Joker was probably going to make some remark about their language, Jessica decided to speak first, hoping that she wouldn't have to regret it later in this first contact situation.

"This is Commander Shepard of the human frigate Normandy SR-2; we are not here to attack you, we come in peace."

The commander couldn't help but feel extremely worried about the silent response, as Jessica had no idea what was going on at the other side. Jessica only hopes that they weren't going to attack them. Joker turns to look at the Commander, the worry evident on his face.

"So, should we run or we just going to stay and be blown up ag-"

Joker was interrupted by the unknown ships, which to their surprise was translated into English.

"Humans this is the Gotengo-class cruiser Gyozen, you are trespassing onto Ogasawara space; you are under orders to dock at these designated coordinates under fighter escort or you will be shot down immediately."

Jessica managed to hold back her surprise long enough to make a response, "Copy that Gyozen, heading there now."

As the communication channel ended, Jessica let out a sigh of relief, they managed to avoid a disaster at the moment; but onto more surprising matters as Joker piloted the Normandy towards the coordinates, "How were they able to translate their language into English so quickly?"

"Actually Shepard, it's much more surprising than that."

"And what can be more surprising than a new race translating their language to English within the span of a few minutes?"

Giving Jessica a quick glance, the look on his face said it all, "Try the fact that they were speaking Japanese when they were speaking to us. How the hell is that possible?"

Jessica looked out the cockpit window to see several fighter craft flying alongside them, "I don't know Joker, looks like we're going to have to find out."

* * *

I know what you're thinking, an alien race that somehow knows perfect Japanese within the span of a few moments? Don't worry, I'll explain everything by the next chapter, but…well let's just say that Toho got a little "inspiration" with their movies.

Anyway, hope that you people like it. Read and review please.


	2. Chapter 2: Or a New Friend?

Godzilla © Toho and Mass Effect © Bioware

* * *

Chapter 2: Or a New Friend?

...

The station that the Normandy SR-2 was escorted to was alien compared to the ships the crew just encountered. While the ships from before were sleek, black ships with a bow-mounted drill, this station was, for a lack of more fitting words, a crystal fortress. It was literally covered in white crystal; so much that Jessica knew that Joker was going to make a joke about it.

"Don't make any comments Joker; just take us in so we can get this over with."

"You sure? Cause I can make at least several jewelry jokes. Yeah you're right, bad time for this."

As the Normandy stops alongside the massive metal and crystal station, a set of docking clamps extends out and attaches itself to the Normandy. As Jessica heads into the airlock, Garrus and Kasumi step into the room to join her; the commander wants people that she can trust by her side to fight through them in case the shit hits the fan with this first contact as well as people that she trusts to not start a fight.

After briefly checking his weapon, Garrus glances up at Jessica. "So you're saying that this new race is speaking- what was the name of this language again?"

"Yeah, they were speaking Japanese. Of course that means they probably met us humans before. We'll have to find out how. Kasumi, you should probably cloak now, if they prove themselves hostile, we may need you to go find out what they're up to."

The Japanese woman gives a quick nod, "Got it Shep."

The master thief activates her cloak just seconds before the door to the outside of the ship opens up. Unsurprisingly, Jessica found a rifle pointed at her face; the rifle, which was dark gray with a set of white ridges along the back, was being held by a being in a steel gray armor that covers the entire body with an exception to the jagged white spines that runs down its back all the way down to its tail. The other two soldiers were wearing the same, but one of them had jagged red spines while the other had rather round white spines.

The soldier aiming its rifle at Jessica's face then spoke to them in a deep, almost threatening voice, "I'm going to have to ask for the three of you are going to have to come with us."

Jessica silently cursed herself for such terrible luck, _'They know that Kasumi is there? Shit, so much for the element of surprise.' _"Might as well decloak Kasumi, they're not falling for it."

There was a groan of disappointment as the Japanese woman decloaks, "Well so much for that idea."

The three armored beings were of course not surprised by this attempt of trickery as who the commander assumes to be the leader of the three motions for the three to follow him. As he walks off, the other two nudge their rifles into their captives' backs to motivate them to move on.

…

The three are currently stuck inside a small room waiting for their leader to enter, Jessica takes a glance outside the observation window at the planet and several other ships.

"So you're saying you know what these things are but at the same time you don't?"

The SPECTRE turns to look at Garrus and Kasumi who are currently discussing their "hosts". The thief nods at the turian's question, "Exactly. I know I've seen these guys before but I just can't remember where."

Before Jessica could add an idea to the conversation, the door opens and immediately the one soldier who's inside guarding them stiffens his pose and makes what the commander could only guess as being their own salute. Their leader was wearing the same armor as the soldiers were sans the helmet, allowing Jessica and her two squad mates to see that it has charcoal gray skin, Kasumi instantly recognizing the creature. "Oh my god, it's Godzilla."

Garrus, who's unfamiliar with human culture, is rather confused, "I'm sorry, I don't think that translated correctly. What did you say?"

"Godzilla, a giant monster who's the star of over 50 years of movies; who would've thought that we'd run into an actual race full of them?"

Jessica, immediately seeing that it's too much of a coincidence to have an entire race look just like a movie monster from over two hundred years ago, turns towards the mini-legend, "So tell us Godzilla, how is it that you know Japanese _and_ have a movie monster resemble you perfectly."

Although the blonde got an annoyed scowl upon hearing his new nickname, he simply nods as he turns to look out of the window onto the planet below. "It was over two hundred and thirty years ago, the people of Ogasawara were trying an experimental FTL device, a modified Dimension Tide."

The turian expressed interest in this, "Dimension Tide?"

"That's classified; as I was saying, we were experimenting with a method for FTL. The ship that volunteered to be fitted with the device, an Atragon-class called the Purifier, opened a wormhole. Everything was going as it should've been, but when the Purifier entered the portal, we never heard from them until several decades later when a second portal opened up and the Purifier emerged. The captain of the ship, a brave Gojiran named Gyo, told us of this one planet named Earth; he told us of how the Purifier crashed into this one nation crashed on this small island chain called Japan. Shortly after crashing, Gyo and the rest of the crew were discovered by a man named Ishirō Honda working for some movie company called Toho; probably figuring that they were going to be stuck for a while, he agreed to come with them until the Purifier was fixed. Upon their return, they taught the rest of us the Japanese language and were hailed as heroes for their actions."

The Gojiran, having finished his tale, turns towards Jessica and leans down until he's just inches from her face. Looking into his fiery orange eyes, the commander could just tell that he was daring her to give him a reason to convince him that they were a threat. "Now tell me, human; what was your business that you show up in our system just days after we were attacked by those unknown ships?"

Jessica closes her eyes and sighs, somehow she knew it was going to come to this; opening her eyes she looks straight into the dinosaur's eyes. "Those ships that you destroyed belong to the Collectors, they're a mysterious race that has recently started to abduct human colonies. I'm on a mission to recruit the best this galaxy has to offer to stop whatever they're planning; what it is, I don't know, but I do know that it has something to do with the Reapers, sentient ships that come every fifty thousand years to wipe the galaxy clean of organic life. I know how crazy that sounds, but it's the truth."

It was over ten seconds of tense silence, when the Gojiran king just smirks and chuckles. "The best the galaxy has to offer, huh? Count me in."

This shocked everyone in the room, including the one Gojiran soldier in the room. "But my lord, this does not involve us."

The king growls angrily as he glares at the soldier, "This has everything to do with us! Do you want to know the reason that one ship survived? Because it's carrying the princes and princesses of the other races, my son included. If this human says that she's going after them, our best hope to get them back is for me to go with her. Do you understand, soldier?"

The soldier, who now seems to be more like a rookie more than everything else, hastily nods as the king turns towards Jessica, who just managed to get out of her shock.

"So you wish to come with us, Godzilla?" The king nods in confirmation. "Alright, I'm sure we can use you aboard the Normandy. But first, we should get you to the Citadel. Since you're a new race-"

"Forty-one races, actually."

"Forty-one new races, you should be introduced to the rest of galactic society."

The king growls in annoyance, "Fine, take me to this Citadel of yours, but do not waste my time at that place."

Jessica Shepard nods, "Hopefully it won't be, since you're a new race, they might be sympathetic to your problem and actually help."

The commander just hopes that she didn't just jinx herself with what she just said. When "Godzilla" exits the room after telling her that he'll meet them at the Normandy's entrance, Jessica couldn't help but feel that this trip just got a whole lot more complicated than it already was; she also added that she wants to add the hope that this king can actually live up to the image those movies left.

* * *

Hope that answers any questions that any of you had about how aliens knew Japanese; it may seem confusing I know, but it's the best I can come up with. Same with why he joins Shepard in the first place.

It may seem like a rather short, somewhat confusing, and possibly boring chapter, but just wait as the next chapter details Godzilla (still thinking of a name, so you'll have to deal with the crew calling him by that nickname) dealing with the Council "heads up their asses" behavior and Jack's recruitment mission. Read and review.


	3. That's Why Everyone Hates Politicians

I don't own Godzilla or Mass Effect; if I did we wouldn't have such a horrible ending to the Mass Effect series.

Chapter 3: And That's Why Everyone Hates Politicians

* * *

As the doors to the Normandy's airlock opens, Joker turns his seat so that he'd make sure that the commander was alright, only to give a big grin when he saw who she's bringing along.

"Hey Commander, glad to see you're alright. Let me guess, you want me to head straight to Earth so your new friend can go visit Tokyo?"

Jessica shakes her head; although the joke was amusing, she wasn't in the mood for it.

"Joker…"

"Sorry commander, couldn't resist. So what's our next destination? We still have one more person to pick up."

"Just set a course for the Citadel; we need to introduce Godzilla here to the rest of the galaxy."

No sooner than Jessica had finished her sentence, a light at the control panel turns from red to green. "Mr. Moreau, docking clamps have been released."

"Yeah, thanks EDI. Aye commander, heading to the Citadel now; we should get there in a few hours."

The Spectre nods and motions for the Normandy's newest passenger to follow her as the pilot faces the control panel and flies the stealth frigate towards the mass relay they came from.

…

Since the Normandy was due to arrive at the Citadel in such a short amount of time, Jessica decided that the newest member, who formally introduced himself as Arashi while on the elevator, didn't have enough time for a visit to Dr. Chakwas or have a psychological evaluation with Kelly. So instead, the Spectre was going to give him a tour around the ship; it was a small ship, yes, but much to her and Arashi's mutual annoyance, most of the time spent was on the _extremely_ slow elevator.

"Damn elevators, those Cerberus bastards improved everything else on the Normandy yet they couldn't bother with installing a faster elevator?"

"You have a problem with this Cerberus, don't you human?"

"You have no idea…"

During the tour, Jessica had introduced Arashi to the rest of the crew, reactions varied with the ground team; Mordin was rather interested in studying a new species, Grunt was only interested in fighting Arashi, saying that he looked like a good challenge, Zaeed didn't give a shit, stating that he's not paid to care about who he works with, Jacob's reaction was mostly neutral, although with some surprise at the sight of a 7 foot tall Godzilla, Miranda also expressed some surprise and probably went off to tell the Illusive Man about Arashi. Now that the tour was over, there was still some time to lead the Gojiran to his room and get to know about his race's history.

The door to a rather empty room, with only a bed and a table with two chairs, in the crew's quarters opened to allow Jessica and Arashi to enter, "I take it this room would be to your liking?"

The reptilian looks over the room for a few seconds and nods. "It's good enough. Now are there any other questions you wish to ask?"

"Yes, I was actually interested in knowing more about the history of your planet." Knowing that it's probably going to be a rather lengthy conversation, Jessica sits down in one of the chairs.

There was only silence for the next few minutes as Arashi stares out the window. "I'll tell you what I know, Shepard."

The Gojiran turns to approach the table, and after staring down at the remaining chair, he grabs it and effortlessly snaps off the back before sitting down. "We don't know where we came from actually, as our oldest fossils go back only 45,000 years ago; lack of any fossils tells us that the Gojiran and the many other races of Ogasawara are either artificial or we were brought there from someplace else. Whatever the answer is, it died with the Ancients."

"The Ancients, huh? What can you tell me about them?"

"Very little, the only thing they left behind was their technology and given that some of that technology is radically different from each other, the Ancients may not have been a single race but a group of them. One other thing we know about them is that they were probably at war with the Titans."

Before the blonde woman could ask about the Titans, Joker contacts the two through the Normandy's comm. system. "Hey Commander, we're approaching the relay in a few minutes, thought that your new friend would like to see his first relay transit and the Citadel."

"Guess we'll talk later, Arashi. Come on." At that, Jessica leaves the room followed closely behind by the miniature dinosaur.

It was surprisingly rather easy to get Arashi past C-Sec, all that the Spectre had to say that he was a new race that wanted to see the Council and they just let them right through. Though Jessica had to admit being a Spectre also helped. As she pilots the skycar towards the Presidium, she glances at the Gojiran, who is currently looking at his omni-tool's codex that they got before getting on.

"Just a bit of a fair warning, Arashi. The Council prefers to keep their heads buried in the sand and ignore everything bad going on in the galaxy; trying to get them to get off of their asses and actually do something productive is like trying to beat a krogan in a knife fight...with a spoon."

The third passenger in the skycar, Garrus, nods in agreement, "So true, Shepard. Couldn't have said it better myself."

"That bad? Never had that problem on my planet. Having 41 races living on the same planet means that we can't afford any of that bureaucratic shit."

Jessica sighs, she actually forgot that Arashi is really a politician, or an "elected king" as he described. Actually easy to forget as everything about the Gojiran just screamed warrior. "Well since you're a new race, they may actually do something to help you out."

…

"So you're saying that the Collectors went through a previously dormant mass relay and took several dozen inhabitants of several new races?"

Jessica nods at Councilor Anderson, "Yes, there were three Collector ships that attacked the world; the one that escaped was the one that had the captives."

The original three members of the Council, Tevos, Sparatus, and Valern, exchanged glances. The Spectre silently cursed herself, in her dealings with the Council two years ago; she knew that was never a good sign. Her fears were confirmed when Valern spoke. "Shepard, we told you before, the Collectors are just a myth."

Sparatus took a turn to speak, "Yes, and how are we to know that you're not using them as an excuse for you activating a dormant relay to find these 'Reapers'?"

Before Jessica could make a response to defend herself, she was interrupted by a very angry growl followed by the sound of something smashing against the metal floor; turning to the source, she saw that Arashi slammed his tail into the floor so hard that it actually dented. Stomping up right next to the Spectre, he grabbed onto the handrail and she could've sworn that she just saw the spines running along his back flicker neon blue. "Unless Shepard here had access to three giant ships resembling an insect hive, she is not making this up!"

Such anger of the king's words was more than enough to nearly make the entire Council cringe in fear. Things were starting to get bad fast and Tevos knew it; the last thing they needed was another Rachni war. "There's no need to worry, we may not believe the Collectors exist, but if your people were taken we will give Shepard any supplies that she may need to bring them back."

Sparatus turns to the asari councilor, most likely to protest giving somebody that's not only mentally fragile but also working for a terrorist group like Cerberus, but before he could say anything Tevos gave him a glare that told him to stay quiet to not anger the new race's representative anymore than he already is. After being content that Sparatus won't say anything else to complicate things, she turns back to Jessica and Arashi. "In the mean time, since you are the representative to a new race, we would like to offer your people a chance to join the Citadel."

The Gojiran crosses his arms in annoyance, although getting supplies may be helpful in rescuing his son and his people, he did not have time to deal with politics, especially when the government in question is not only extremely unhelpful and inefficient, but also repeatedly made bad decisions like uplifting the krogan and banishing the quarians. Although he would flat out refuse, Arashi wasn't the one that had a say in this decision.

"Very well, send me the conditions needed for us to join, I wish for my people to look at this."

The asari nods as she brings up her omni-tool and sends over the treaty, appearing on Arashi's omni-tool within seconds. As the Gojiran reads through what he just received, Jessica just caught the slightest hint of a scowl across his face.

As Arashi reads through the treaty, he can immediately tell that the Ogasawaran senate is going to immediately reject this and the Gojiran knew exactly why; but again, it wasn't his choice to make. After sending the treaty to his people along with a recommendation for the decision, Arashi proceeds to walk out not even bothering to look at the Council as he speaks to them, "This won't take long".

* * *

It took relatively little time for the Ogasawaran senate to come together to discuss the conditions required to become a Citadel race; of course they were rather unhappy with it.

One of the members, a creature with a black hide, a long forked tail, and covered in what looks like white bony armor and having what resembles half a skull on each of its shoulders, pounds his fist onto the table in anger, "This is an outrage! How can this 'Citadel Council' expect us to follow these laws? No genetic engineering, reducing our combined fleets, no AI for our mechanized warriors, and worst off, shutting down our weapons of mass destruction until they can be approved by Citadel inspectors? Every person in entire population is practically a living weapon of mass destruction!"

Another member of the senate, a hulking, gray creature that's hunched over to knuckle walk with its long arms and massive hands, raises one of his hands in order to get the Ghidran to calm down. "I agree that the conditions are against our very existence and that we should refuse it, but what of this Council? They may not like it when a galactic nation refuses to join them and may come up with a reason to bring us under their control by other means; as powerful as our militaries are, we only have several worlds and moons that we control while they control the rest of the galaxy. We cannot win if it comes to that."

A third member of the senate, this one with a jet-black hide, a single crimson red visor-like eye, metal forearms that end in razor sharp claws for its hands, and a single line of small metal blades running down his chest, clicks his metal mandibles with his beak before speaking, "Well if it does come to war, then we will respond in force, even using the Gyaos if needed."

A fourth member, this one resembling a turtle with the exception of a large pair of tusks jutting out of his bottom jaw where his molars should be, takes his turn. "Are you mad? We all know that the Gyaos cannot be controlled, in fact the only reason that plague still exists is because more nests keep popping up all over the place."

The cyborg clicks his mandibles in annoyance as he looks at the human sized terrapin with his single red eye. "We don't have to control them, all that we need to do is bombard the worlds of the Council with a few dozen eggs; they'll be devoid of life within the year."

"Then let us hope it doesn't come down to war with the Citadel then. If it does, the Gyaos are to be used only as a last resort; no one should have to suffer through them like we have to do." The other representatives turn to the speaker, a humanoid white moth with sapphire blue eyes and colorful wings that are folded back. "Back on topic, all in favor of rejecting the Council's invitation to join the Citadel?"

Everyone races their hand in response.

"Then it's decided; we will not join the Citadel. Meeting adjourned." As the leaders of the other races leave the room, the Mosuran activates her portable computer and sends Arashi, the chairman of the Ogasawaran Senate, their decision and reasons why.

* * *

It took less than an hour for Jessica and Arashi to schedule another meeting with the Council; as the Gojiran, human, and turian enter the Council Chambers, Arashi steps forward while Jessica and Garrus stand behind him.

Tevos was the first Councilor to speak to Arashi, "I take it that your people have made their decision?"

"They have Councilors, and we refuse."

This statement was a shock to all four members of the Council; however, Anderson decided to keep his opinions to himself, not wanting to get involved with a race that resembles an invincible being from a 200 year old movie series. The other three, being completely unfamiliar with human culture, were a lot more vocal; the prime example being Sparatus, "Do you have any idea on what this decision is going to cost you? Your world will be left unprotected against-"

The turian Councilor was quickly cut off from a threatening growl from Arashi, "Do you think you're ones to talk about protecting your worlds? From what I've read the three of you have done a horrible job at that: human colonies gone missing for the past two years, colonies left to fend for themselves because they're 'outside your jurisdiction', and a prime example of your failures at protecting your people: banishing the quarians when they requested help."

Tevos was quick to defend the Council's actions, "The colonies know what's at stake when they started in the Terminus Systems; sending fleets to protect them could ignite a war with the Terminus."

The salarian councilor nods in agreement, "Yes and as for the missing colonies, those are strictly a human matter."

Sparatus was the one who defended the final point, "The quarians are in exile, and shall remain so as punishment for unleashing the geth upon the galaxy!"

Arashi snarls in disgust, "The quarians pleaded with you for aid to deal with the geth, and you claim that it's the job of the Citadel to defend its people; it's been 300 years and they're still stuck on a fleet with ships that are literally falling apart, that's enough of a punishment in my opinion. And what about the geth? They've done nothing in the past few centuries, if they were going to attack the rest of the galaxy, they would've done that the instant the quarians fled."

The turian councilor glares at the Gojiran in anger, "And what right do you have to judge us for our decisions?"

"Because it's a duty of the peoples' leader to protect them, that's the first reason the people of Ogasawara are not joining you. The second main reason is shutting down all of our weapons of mass destruction, every citizen of Ogasawaran space can be considered a living weapon of mass destruction, myself included. Our third and final reason is your laws against AI, we need those for our mechanized units and it forbids our need for the Kiryu program."

Valern was quick to express concern about this, "Do you realize how much danger you're in? Your AI will turn on you and destroy everything."

"Well, I don't know how you make your AI, but ours are programmed to think like an organic. Now, take your conventions and shove it up your asses, because nothing you can do can make us join." Before the Councilors can say anything, Arashi turns and leaves the Council Chambers.

* * *

As the Normandy SR-2 heads towards the Osun system, the elevator doors in the crew quarters to allow Jessica to step out and towards the medical bay. The ship's next destination was a prison ship run by the Blue Suns known as the Purgatory, and she wanted Arashi to be ready for his first combat mission in case things went wrong, plus Chakwas didn't get a chance to examine him when the Gojiran first arrived on the ship. Of course, since he was a completely new species, Mordin also wanted a chance to examine him.

Glancing at the Cerberus insignia with disgust as she walked past, Jessica approached the medical bay; Chakwas and Mordin were standing in front of the door, conversing with each other before they notice the Commander's approach and turn to face her.

"Doctor Chakwas, Mordin, what can you tell me about Arashi?"

Mordin was the first to speak, "Not much, as emitted radiation's interfering with medical scans."

Jessica finds herself surprised at that revelation. "Radiation? How dangerous is it?"

The salarian shook his head, "Radiation at non-lethal levels. Still recommend taking radiation pills after prolonged close proximity with him."

Dr. Chakwas spoke this time, "Since we weren't able to scan Arashi, we decided to inject him with nanobots to provide detailed information about him and the rest of the species. Easier said than done of course, as most of the needles we tried to use broke against his skin; I swear that his skin's strong enough to withstand several pistol rounds."

"How were you able to get the nanobots in him then?"

"We were able to find a relatively soft spot in the underarm; of course it still took our thickest needle to actually pierce it."

Jessica sighs, the woman already guessing what the medical officer was going to, "I'll get some new medical supplies next time we dock. What were the nanobots able to find out?"

"You mean before the radiation overwhelmed them? Quite a bit actually, from nearly unbreakable bones to a regenerative ability that could rival that of a vorcha. And what's probably the surprising of all is the fact that Arashi's a living nuclear reactor."

Mordin shakes his head in disagreement with that last sentence. "No, subject stated that he's able to control nuclear energy for offensive purposes. Described himself as living weapon of mass destruction. He was right; his very existence is a violation to Citadel laws."

Jessica, although very surprised about this information, was able to keep it to herself.

"I'd like to speak with Arashi now, if that's alright with you."

The medical officer and the scientist both nod and allow Jessica to enter the medical bay. The Commander was able to immediately spot the person she was seeking, who is currently putting his helmet on. "You ready to go, Arashi?

The Gojiran nods as he grabs his assault rifle, the same dark gray weapon that Jessica saw the guards using back when she was a captive, and a shotgun, which to the Spectre's surprise has no resemblance to the assault rifle, being a brilliant gold color with three barrels side-by-side. Jessica couldn't help but be curious as to what the two weapons do.

...

As Jessica and her squad, Arashi and Garrus, the three are greeted by several prison guards, with a turian in front of them to welcome them. "Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard. Your package is being prepped and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high-security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed."

'_Well this is certainly going well,' _"I can't do that."

Before the turian guard could respond, a second turian approaches behind the three guards, "Everyone stand down. Commander, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship." Jessica could swear that the Gojiran to her side let out a growl, obviously not trusting this man, "Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realize that this is just a standard procedure."

"It's my standard procedure to keep my guns."

The warden looks at the three with a rather piercing gaze, as if to size them up; legendary Spectre or not, Jessica was still just a human with a turian buddy, but Arashi was a complete unknown to Kuril. "Let them proceed. Our faculty is more than secure enough to handle three armed guests. We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds clear you can be on your way. If you'll follow me to Outprocessing for the pickup, Commander."

Jessica nods as she gives Warden Kuril a rather skeptical look, "Let's go."

Following the warden through the door, the Normandy squad finds themselves in a glass hall. "Cellblock Two. As you can see, we keep tight control over the population." Jessica and her squadmates pause as they witness a pair of giant mechanical arms grab what appears to be a large box each and attach them farther along the hall they're in.

"Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained, modular unit. I've blown a few out of the airlocks as an example. This ship is made up of 30 cell blocks identical to this one; we house thousands of criminals. We can put the whole place in lockdown in a moment's notice. Nothing goes wrong here."

Although Jessica wanted to ask some questions about this ship and Jack, every instinct the Spectre has is screaming for her to get out as quickly as possible. "Let's get on with this."

The Blue Suns mercenary nods and proceeds to continue through the corridor; Arashi decided to speak up, curiousity momentarily suppressing his suspicious nature towards the warden. "I suppose nobody has bothered with trying to escape this place?"

"We're in space; they have nowhere to go and they know it. But still, we exercise extreme caution. These are dangerous individuals." As Kuril explains this, the three members of the Normandy squad look down below as a pair of prisoners are arguing over something before it moves on to shoving; before it could get any worse the Blue Suns guard activates his omni-tool and a glowing blue tower rises out of a nearby pedestal and sends two streams of energy to encase them both in a separate bubble.

Kuril seems to notice where the three are looking, "We have many ways to control the population."

The door at the end of the corridor opens up to allow the four through, "I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus cleared. Outprocessing is straight down this hallway. Just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the supermax wing." With that, Kuril walks off into the corridor they were just in, "I'll catch up with you later… Shepard." As the door closes, Jessica could not help but feel that something bad is going to happen.

With no choice but to continue moving forward, they stumble across a separate cell where the prisoner inside is being beaten by a turian guard. Arashi growls at the sight, "This isn't an interrogation, this is a power trip. You better do something Shepard before it gets worse."

Jessica didn't even have to agree to that as she approaches a second turian guard who's watching the beating take place. The guard having noticed her approach, gives her a glance, "Is there something I can do for you?"

"There's no excuse for beating a prisoner who can't fight back."

"This is a massage compared to what his victims went through."

"This degrades you as much as him."

"We have orders."

'_It's that excuse huh?' _"You're not important enough to make your own decisions?"

The turian guard shrugs, "I admit… I sometimes get tired of this. Does this really get anything useful?"

"Stop this. For your own sake."

Turing back to the beating, the guard can't help but agree. "Yeah. You're right. Call it off. At least for now."

'_Guess that's better than nothing…'_ As the guard inside the cell stops the beating, Jessica proceeds to walk away where she's interrupted once more.

"Hey! Hey guys, over here. Let me ask you something."

Turning to the speaker, a lone human in the cell right next to the beating, the commander guess it couldn't hurt to talk to the poor man. "If you're buying prisoners, can you buy me? Man, I don't care where you take me or what you do with me, it's got to be better than this."

'_Oh, so that's what this is about… He has a point though, not much can be worse than being stuck here for the rest of your life…'_

Garrus, who has apparently sensed the man's desperation, decided to tell the man the truth. "We're here for Jack."

The prisoner seemed to panic at the mention of the name, causing Jessica to wonder if this Jack guy was really that bad. "Jack? Forget what I just said. I don't want to go anywhere with you." _'Guess he really is that bad.'_

"Tell me more about Jack."

"The worst trouble you ever saw, mixed with some crazy and _way too much_ biotic power. That's all I'm saying."

"So what are you in for?"

"I killed a few people. Only about 20 or so. And I blew up that one habitat. Small-time compared to most of the guys here."

'Okay…' "I should go." The man hangs his head in disappointment at that statement, "Wish I could go."

As the three proceeded to walk away, they neared the third cell, "I hear the screaming in my head. It's nice. Yeah." And decided to walk faster past it.

…

As the Normandy squad enters a large room, a nearby technician gives them directions on where to go, "Outprocessing is though the doors on the far side of the room." At this point, Jessica's instincts are screaming even louder that something bad's going to happen, and continues to tell her to get out with more and more panic and worry as she approaches the lone door. As Jessica opens the one door, they find it to be an empty cell. At that point Warden Kuril speaks to them through the Purgatory's intercoms.

"My apologies, Shepard. You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer. Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell. You will not be harmed."

Jessica silently curses herself for not forseeing this, she really didn't want this to end in a bloodbath… "Maybe I can change your mind."

"Activate systems!"

Bloodbath not avoided, and as the three get into cover behind the multiple desks in the room, about a half dozen Blue Suns troopers rush in lead by a Centurion. "Garrus, I need you to hit the Centurion with an Over-" Jessica didn't get to finish her sentence as she's interrupted by the dying screams of the Centurion, looking up they see Arashi firing neon blue beams at the mercenaries, each pull of the assault rifle's trigger guarantees a pained scream as they're torn apart by the high temperature and radiation. Retalitory fire from the remaining Blue Suns troopers only bounce off the Gojiran's shielding.

Not the kind of people to waste an advantage, Jessica and Garrus pull out some new weapons that they got from the Councilors to help rescue Arashi's people. Aiming down the scopes of her turian sniper rifle, she targets a duo of troopers hiding behind the desk to avoid being blasted by the Gojiran's weapon. As the commander pulls the trigger, what appears to be a rocket streaks out of the barrel and manages to hit one of the troopers who got up to shit at Arashi; it proved to be the death of him and his buddy as the round impacted his chest and produced an explosion large enough to turn them both into a bunch of bloody chunks.

As Garrus manages to gun down the final mercenary with his new Phaeston, Warden Kuril once again shouted orders on the intercom, "Reinforce Outprocessing! Shepard is loose!"

Garrus looks out the door they came in, only to see it clear at the moment before turning to Jessica. "We need to get Jack out of cryo."

The commander nods and proceeds to head out, only for a Blue Suns Legionaire flanked by several FENRIS mechs to appear to block their path. Jessica Shepard can only curse her bad luck as she launches a shockwave, it may not have been much against the batarian other than stagger him, but it caused the FENRIS mechs to go flying into the ceiling. Meanwhile, Garrus manages to drain the Legionaire's shielding, allowing Arashi to smash the mercenary into the wall with his long tail. Arashi snarls as he looks down upon the Blue Suns member, "I should've known that they would've betrayed us."

"Well look on the bright side Arashi, now we get to kill all the ones that get in our way."

…

After dealing with the lone technician in the supermax wing, Jessica approaches the only thing of interest in the room, a lone computer. Garrus manages to notice what she was doing, "Shepard, if you hack that control, every door in the cellblock opens."

Arashi looks at the console, "Looks like it's the only way to get Jack out of the freezer."

"I'm doing it. Be ready."

After bracing herself for anything that might happen, Jessica presses a few buttons on the control panel, causing a giant mechanical arm to rise up and grab onto the cryo pod in the floor, gaining the attention to three YMIR mechs. As the pod is pulled up, Jessica and the other two see who Jack really is, a young woman almost completely covered in tattoos. Garrus voiced the surprise that everyone is thinking, "That's Jack?"

The blonde commander leans in closer to watch in interest as Jack awakens and manages to break free from the restraints around her wrists and neck. After freeing herself from her cell, the woman stumbles as she clutches her head before noticing the three heavy mechs aiming their weapons at her. Although this would be enough to make anybody stand down, Jack actually launches herself at the three machines, biotic energy swirling around her fist as she punches the one in the middle to effortlessly destroy it. The resulting explosion was large enough to make Jessica and Garrus stagger in an attempt to stay on their feet. Arashi was rather unaffected by the explosion; instead, he was rather impressed.

"Impressive, couldn't have done that better myself. Now, we should go after her."

…

Walking past the smoldering wreckage of the three YMIR, the Normandy squad finds a large hole that was blasted out of the wall and into a maintenance corridor. Arashi practically twitches his tail in anticipation, "Very impressive…"

The intercom activates as Warden Kuril shouts his orders to all the Blue Suns mercenaries in the area, "All guards: restore order! Lethal force authorized! But don't kill Jack! Techs: lockdown! Lockdown!" As they continue down the corridor, the ship's computer comes to life, "Sectors Seven, Nine, and Eleven have lost life support. No survivors."

Taking that as their cue to get off the Purgatory as quickly as possible, the squad runs ahead until they come across another hole leading into a large room showing extensive damage and it all shows as if someone extremely angry and extremely powerful went on a rampage, "She became as mad as hell and has enough biotics that could possibly rival that of an asari matriarch. Jack could be a big problem on the Normandy, Shepard."

Before Jessica could respond to Garrus, she hears the nearby sounds of gunfire; sneaking forward after activating her tactical cloak and stopping on top of a small bridge, the Spectre finds the prisoners and their guards firing at each other. "All prisoners return to your cells immediately or I'll open every airlock on this ship!"

All the prisoners ignored Warden Kuril's threat on the intercom, they were only interested in revenge for how they were treated by the guards. However, due to the Blue Suns having better equipment and higher ground, the prisoners were swiftly cut down by the troopers. Just as Jessica was beginning to think about heading back to the Normandy, EDI contacts her with her personal radio, "Shepard, the warden has locked down the area behind you. You must find another exit route."

'_Great…' _"Looks like we're left with no other choice but to keep going forward. Get ready to fire when I start firing." Taking out her Mattock, Jessica aims at one of the few remaining prison guards and fires a single shot to drop the human. Her cloak drops and the other troopers, having spotted Shepard, immediately begin to fire at her position; as she ducked back into cover, the mercenaries were too busy peppering the bridge with a few rounds to try and scare the woman out to notice as Garrus snipes a few of them with his Mantis from underneath while Arashi charges forward firing a trio of golden lightning bolts from his shotgun to eliminate a few others.

Just as Jessica peaked out of cover to finish off the last one, she notices one thing she failed to see the first time, a YMIR mech by the back wall. The heavy mech lowers its left arm and fires a rocket at the only target out in the open, "Arashi, look out!"

It was too late, just as the Gojiran looks at the walking tank, the rocket slams into his face and the resulting explosion slams the dinosaur into the wall, where he lay unmoving. Just before Jessica was about to order Garrus to cover her while she checks on Arashi, a loud roar pierces the air as Arashi manages to stand up. The Gojiran rips off his shattered helmet, allowing his human and turian squadmates to see that the side of his face the missile impacted has blown it off, revealing muscle and bone imbedded with shrapnel from his helmet and bits of the missile.

Arashi roars again in rage as his spines flicker a bright neon blue before a blue beam of radioactive flame shoots out of his mouth and slams into the YMIR's chest, shoving the machine into the wall behind it. The beam lasts for a good five seconds before the dinosaur stops it to see the damage; the YMIR was still standing but its chest had a deep crater melted into the metal, it was clear that it was on its last legs. The heavy mech aims both of its arms and fires a continuous volley of machine gun rounds and a trio of rockets; but the tiny rounds only pinged off of its armor and recharging shields and Arashi fires a second stream of neon blue energy, destroying the rockets before they can hit and incinerating its head. With its head gone, the YMIR simply blows up; and with nothing else in the room, Jessica and Garrus rush towards their wounded teammate only to see that most of the damage has been healed.

"Arashi, are you alright?"

Although the Gojiran growls in annoyance and anger as he picks up his shattered helmet, the commander could tell that it wasn't at either of them. "I'm fine, Shepard. I've taken worse before. Let's just get Jack and off this infernal prison."

…

It was a massacre; although Warden Kuril had his back to the wall and had several dozen prisoners coming after him, he had all the advantages: an M-76 Revenant light machine gun, higher ground, and shields. The prisoners aren't even able to get close enough to swarm the turian with their improvised or captured weapons without them all getting gunned down; the last remaining prisoner peeks out from behind cover only to get shot in the face by the mercenary, who has just noticed the source of his problems. "You're valuable, Shepard. I could've sold you and lived like a king. But you're too much trouble. At least I can recapture Jack."

The warden fires a burst from his Revenant in order to keep the Normandy squad from peeking out of cover, Jessica shouts back at Kuril, "Not happening! You're a two-bit slave trader and I don't have time for it!"

Kuril, enraged at the accusations, was quick to defend his actions, "I do the things civil governments are unwilling to! This is for the good of the galaxy!"

The Gojiran snarls in disgust at the turian, "And I've had enough of you, turian!" As Ararashi stands out of cover, Kuril fires upon him only to watch in horror as the rounds not only have any effect on this unknown, but only serve to anger him further. This time Arashi's spines glow a bright red before he fires a stream of red radioactive flames with stray energy spiraling around it; serving as Kuril's last sight before it shoots through the shields like they were nothing and incinerates the turian instantly. All the Blue Suns in the room, having witnessed the instant death of their boss, immediately turned and ran out of the room. Jessica and Garrus are completely stunned at the sight of Arashi's power, who is currently panting as the adrenaline starts to wear off. "I'm finished with this place, let's just get this Jack and get off."

…

A single pistol shot was enough to bring down the batarian guard, and the tattooed woman turns to face the Normandy squad. The biotic glares at them, as if trying to figure out what they're up to, "What the hell do you want?"

Figuring that the truth is just the best option in this situation, Jessica decided to go with that, "You're in a bad situation, and I'm going to get you out of here."

"Shit, you sound like a pussy. I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus."

Things were starting to get bad again, and Jessica did not want things to get worse with the woman who single-handedly brought down an entire ship. "I'm here to ask for your help."

"You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. You think I'm stupid?"

"This ship is going down in flames. We can get you to safety, and we're asking for your help."

Garrus glances at Jessica, "We could just knock her out and take her."

"I'd like to see you try."

The blonde woman shakes her head, "We're not going to attack her."

"Good move. Look, you want me to come with you, make it worth my while."

"Join my team and I'll do what I can for you."

Jack just glares at Jessica, "Don't make promises you can't keep. I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases. I want to look at those files. See what Cerberus has got on me. You want me on your team, let me go through those databases."

The commander shrugs, figuring that no harm can come from giving this woman access to those databases; besides, if it helps to bring down Cerberus, Jessica's all for it. "I'll give you full access."

Jack jabs Jessica in her chest with her fingers, as if daring the Spectre to betray her. "You better be straight-up with me." Jessica nods, "So why the hell are we standing here?"

Realizing that there's probably not much time left before the Purgatory completely fails, Jessica turns back to look at her squad, "Move out."

Arashi and Garrus nod as they follow Jessica, Jack lingering behind to give a quick glance at the Normandy before following.

* * *

Longest chapter ever.

I did say that I'd be doing a visit to the Council and getting Jack off the Purgatory, but I didn't think that it'd be that long.

But I do have a request; I had over 600 viewers over the month of May yet I have only 3 reviews by two people for those two chapters. I don't want to be the guy that complains, but I'm serious, I'd like to get more reviews. Without any reviews, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing wrong in the world of ME and I'll just lose any motivation to keep going because I'm starting to think that you people don't enjoy it. Seriously, it's not even that difficult to leave a review.

Anyway, now that the first group of characters have been recruited, we're going to go onto Horizon next. The wait for Horizon shouldn't take too long, even shorter if more reviews come in.


	4. Chapter 4: Darkness Over the Horizon

You people know the drill, I don't own Mass Effect or Godzilla, they belong to Bioware and Toho Studios respectively.

* * *

Chapter 4: Darkness Over the Horizon

...

**Osun System, **_**Purgatory**_

A large explosion erupts behind them as Spectre Jessica, her squad, and the new team member race through the hall towards the docking clamp her ship is at. As the prison ship continues to fall apart, the commander turns on her radio to contact the Normandy; bad memories of her last moments on the first Normandy were starting to come up at the worst possible moment, which made itself clear by the tone of her voice.

"Joker, open the airlocks and get ready to get the hell out of here as soon as we're onboard!"

"Aye commander!"

Just seconds after the pilot's confirmation, Jessica can make out the sight of the airlock opening up as they rapidly approach the frigate. Another explosion goes off, causing the four to run even faster towards their one hope of survival; the explosions becoming more and more frequent as the Normandy squad draws closer to the ship.

_Twenty meters,_ there was an explosion followed by the shriek of metal as the entrance to the prison ship is blocked off with tons of debris.

_Ten meters,_ the squad was nearly thrown off their feet by the ship-wide tremors.

_Five meters,_ another explosion nearly causes the docking clamp to snap off; Jessica could only hope that it'd hold long enough for them to escape.

...

By the time that the Normandy squad ran into the airlock, they were running so fast that they weren't able to stop in time to avoid slamming into the wall, leaving a pile of bodies moaning in pain as the airlock closes. As Joker pilots the ship away from the Purgatory as it proceeds to self-destruct, Jack was not happy with having Garrus on top of her.

"Get off of me!"

Before Garrus comply to the biotic's demand, Jack literally throws him off, sending the poor turian to slam into the computer console right next to Joker, much to the pilot's displeasure.

"Hey, watch it!"

As Joker and Jack have their little argument, Jessica groans as she struggles to stand up. It took a few minutes due to her having absolutely no energy left from that mission, but she managed to accomplish the task.

"Jack, time to take you to be briefed."

...

After about several minutes of briefing Jack on their mission and Jessica giving the convict full access to the Cerberus files, the tattooed woman left the communications room followed closely by the Spectre, only for the latter to stop in her tracks as Joker contacts Jessica through the intercoms.

"Uh Commander, hate to be the bringer of bad news but you got a message from you know who; he wants another chat with you. Apparently it's urgent."

The commander just groans, she was thoroughly exhausted and was definitely not in the mood to deal with more Cerberus bullshit from the Illusive Man himself. Sighing in defeat, Jessica turns around and walks back into the communications room and onto the QEC pedestal once the conference table sinks into the floor.

The first thing the Cerberus leader noticed once Jessica's hologram materialized into his room was the hateful glare coming from the commander. Casually ignoring it with an inhale of his cigarette, he looks at Jessica with his unnatural blue eyes.

"Shepard. I think we have them! Horizon, one of our colonies in the Terminus Systems, just went silent. If it isn't under attack, it soon will be. Has Mordin delivered the countermeasure for the seeker swarms?"

Jessica shakes her head in response, "Not yet."

"Let's hope he works well under pressure. There's something else you should know. One of your former crew, Ashley Williams, she's stationed on Horizon."

Jessica's heart nearly skipped a beat upon hearing the news that her best friend from the mission two years ago may be in danger of being taken. _'Wait, something doesn't add up here…'_

"Last I knew, Ashley was Alliance. Why is she out in the Terminus Systems?"

"Officially, it's an outreach program to improve Alliance relation with the colonies. But they're up to something. And if they sent Chief Williams, it must be big. Perhaps you should take it up with her."

"The Collectors just happened to pick a colony with one of my former crew? I don't buy it."

The Illusive Man exhales a cloud of smoke as he looks at Jessica, "It shouldn't be a surprise the Collectors are interested in you. Especially if they're working for the Reapers. They might be going after her to get to you."

Hearing that Collectors may be after her best friend just to get to her was more than enough motivation to get Jessica to get over her disgust towards the Illusive Man and head straight to this colony.

"Send the coordinates. We'll head straight there."

"This is the most warning we've ever had, Shepard. Good luck."

As the quantum entanglement communicator turns off, Jessica calls for the pilot.

"Joker, set a course for Horizon. I've got to see the professor."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

* * *

**Anadius System, Cronos Station**

As the hologram disappeared in his office, the Illusive Man took another look at Miranda's report as well as the vids of Arashi aboard the Normandy and his meeting with the Citadel Council. Suffice to say, he's rather worried about these events, as unlike the many races of the Citadel, with their capabilities quite well known from the past three decades, this race, the Gojirans, are a complete unknown in every possible way as well as having over two centuries to learn all that they can about humanity from their decades long stay.

Granted, although whatever knowledge they've received from two centuries ago is outdated by today, they still could've left dozens, maybe even hundreds, of drones to continue to watch them after their departure. The Illusive Man inhales his cigarette as he begins to think of a way to deal with the Gojirans should they prove themselves a threat.

* * *

**Iera System, Horizon**

Hours after the Illusive Man had contacted the Normandy about the attack on Horizon, the once silent skies of the colony is interrupted by the engines of a Kodiak shuttle marked with a Cerberus color scheme. Setting down on the ground, the side doors open up to allow Commander Shepard to step out, followed closely by the master thief, Kasumi, and the Gojiran, Arashi, who insisted on coming with the commander. As they step out, the first thing they see is the massive form of the Collector ship, causing Arashi to growl in anger.

"What's wrong Arashi?"

The Gojiran's tail twitches in agitation as he doesn't take his eyes off of the hive-like ship, "That's the ship. The one that took my people, and my son."

The two women look at Arashi in surprise at what the reptilian being was saying.

"How can you tell?

In response to Jessica's question, Arashi points at the more organic-looking part at the front of the ship, or more specifically, at the massive gash large enough to reveal the metal underneath.

"You see that? The organic protrusions aren't consistent; they've been blasted off to reveal the metal hull underneath."

Arashi turns to look at Jessica, her deep blue eyes meeting his fiery orange; the commander can almost feel the tiniest hint of worry coming from them.

"Shepard, I know that we're here to save this colony, but if we ever get the chance I want to get on that ship. I…I have to know whether my son's still alive."

Although stunned by Arashi's sudden transition from an unstoppable force just hours ago to a worried father now, Jessica nods.

"Alright Arashi, whenever we get the chance, we'll search the Collector ship; we're going to get your son back, I'll make sure of it."

The Gojiran nods in acceptance before Jessica turns on her radio to contact the ship, "We're groundside. Mordin, you sure these armor upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?"

As the Normandy team start their approach towards the massive ship Mordin responds to the commander's question, "Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms. In theory."

Arashi shakes his head upon hearing the last part.

"In theory? That's reassuring."

"Experimental technology. Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Look forward to seeing if you survive."

Jessica just shakes her head after hearing that "helpful" piece of advice from Mordin, only to notice movement up ahead. Motioning her time to keep quiet and to follow her, they take cover behind several large structures; activating her tactical cloak, Jessica peaks out to find over a half dozen Collectors standing around, what they were doing Jessica didn't care as she pulls back into cover in time for her cloak to deactivate.

Activating a private channel with Kasumi and Arashi, Jessica pulls out her M-92 Mantis which was enough to convince the two to draw their own firearms.

"Hostiles, eight of them. Don't fire until I make the first shot."

Reactivating her cloak, Jessica peeks back out and takes a look at the Collectors, searching for the one that could be the leader of this group. Most of the insectoid beings were identical in appearance and weaponry, but there was just one that held a weapon that was different than the others. Guessing that's the leader of this Collector group, Jessica aims at its head and fires her Mantis, the single shot effortlessly tearing through the Collector's barrier and straight into its head.

As bits of brain matter and bone squirt out of the Assassin's head, the Drones immediately face Jessica and start firing their assault rifles at the marine as she ducks back into cover; with the Drones still firing in the commander's direction, they were caught unprepared as submachine gun rounds and bright blue beams pelt them from the side. Just like the kinetic barriers the Blue Suns were equipped with just hours earlier, the biotic barriers surrounding the many Drones were made to defend against kinetic impacts such as Kasumi's M-12 Locust submachine gun, not against the lethal beams of heat and radiation from Arashi's G-54 Atomic assault rifle. After three Collectors were killed by the thief and the Gojiran, three of the remaining four immediately shifted their attention to the pair, forcing them back down as assault rifle rounds fly past where their heads were just seconds ago before peppering their cover with more rounds.

"Kasumi, flashbang!"

Not even bothering to ask why, the Japanese woman fishes out the grenade in question, which she managed to swipe the designs for back on Bekenstein, and tosses it out into the open after activating it. The Collectors were completely unprepared for it as the resulting explosion blinded them; seeing her chance, Jessica draws her M-23 Katana and charges into the Drone that was originally firing upon her, literally splattering the overgrown insect into the ground and wall. Turning her shotgun on the remaining Collectors, she fires it three times. Without bothering to watch the headless Drones to hit the ground, the commander turns towards Arashi and Kasumi as they walk out of cover.

"You two alright?"

"Never better, Shep."

"I'm fine."

"Good, cause we have a lot more ground to cover. Let's hurry up."

* * *

**Collector Base**

The eighth and final vid screen erupts into static as the Drone it was attached to was slain, the Collector watching them, which is slightly larger than the rest of its brethren, shuts them down as the machine controlling the Collector thinks about what it has seen through its puppet's eyes.

There was no use in denying it like an organic would, Shepard, the human that has eluded capture even when deceased, has at last revealed herself. However, Shepard wasn't what the massive machine was thinking about, it was her companion. Its army of puppets that are outside the harvesting ship are more than adequate enough to eliminate the two humans and examine Shepard's, but the odds of them being able to eliminate and seize the unknown are too slim for the Reaper's liking.

It didn't even take a second of thinking for Harbinger to come to its decision; it was going to send every one of its puppet inside the harvesting out to eliminate Shepard and her team.

* * *

**Iera System, Horizon**

"Does anybody get the feeling that things have been too easy so far?"

Jessica can just see Arashi's tail twitch as the Gojiran asked, and the Spectre couldn't help but agree with him. After the first firefight against the Collectors, they've engaged the Collectors only two more times. Even if they were just here to take the Horizon colonists and unprepared for armed resistance, all the silence was just disturbing, as if something bad is heading their way. And given that the Normandy team found out that the Collectors were working for the Reapers, that possibility's very likely. Finding a new weapon in the form of a Particle Beam rifle did little to help the nerves as well.

"I know, I feel the same Arashi. Stay frosty team, we don't know what these bastards are up to now…"

"Are you sure things aren't too easy because of him, Shep?"

"Maybe, but I somehow doubt it."

As the three walk into a small clearing, they hear the buzzing noise that alerts them to approaching Collectors, in the form of six standard Drones, five Assassins, and four Guardians that all land on the ground; however, the Collector that managed to gain their attention was a Collector pair that land on the ceiling. These Collectors, instead of having no equipment like the others have, have a computer-like gauntlet on each arm with several small orbs attached to each one.

As the three get into cover as the Collectors begin firing at them, Jessica manages to catch a glimpse of the two Collectors doing something with their gauntlets. The marine's question on what they were doing were quickly answered when the orbs detach themselves from the gauntlets and reveal themselves as flying turrets when they began to fire at the Normandy squad. With the turrets gone, their gauntlets open up to reveal dual barrels and the two Collector Engineers take off.

The sheer volume of incoming fire was extremely annoying to Arashi, and as he notices the two Engineers taking off, he aims his G-54 rifle to make them pay for their foolish decision. But before the Gojiran could fire, he is slammed with the force of a missile; strong enough to force him not only through his cover, but _through_ the building the Collector Engineers were standing on.

Tumbling across the ground, Arashi looks up at his assailant, a lone Collector. The Gojiran figured that it managed to land behind them before launching its attack; he growls angrily at this damn insect and how it dared to make him look like a fool. Although he lost his weapons from the impact, Arashi didn't need them to slaughter the Collector Vanguard standing in front of him as he prepares to use his fist to smash its face in.

The Gojiran was so engulfed with rage that he didn't notice that the Vanguard was purposefully standing there until a metal cable wraps around his hand. Startled, Arashi had no time to react as a second cable wrapped around his other hand; growling with anger, the Gojiran looks at the source of one of the cables to see clinging on the wall, a Collector Engineer with the cable attached to a device on its gauntlet. Before Arashi could yank the cables to send both Engineers onto the ground, they quickly detached the devices and onto the building they were each clinging too; the Gojiran hearing the sound of metal being punched open as the cable devices anchored themselves into the wall.

The next thing that the Gojiran heard was a whirring sound as the cables start to retract into the devices followed by immense pain as the cables are starting to pull on his arms.

'_They're going to try and rip me apart!'_

Realizing that he has to do something quick in order to free himself, Arashi's spines glow bright neon blue as he prepares his signature ability, only for more cables to wrap around his mouth and neck as well as his tail.

Trapped and having absolutely no where to go, Arashi can only feel helpless as the Collector Engineers land to his sides with gauntlet guns raised. To make matters worse, the Collector Vanguard in front of him starts to stagger and convulse as multiple glowing cracks open up in its exoskeleton before it releases a blinding flash of energy. Opening his eyes, Arashi is greeted with the sight of the Collector with a fiery aura surrounding it. The Collector gazes upon the Gojiran with its glowing, soul-piercing eyes before speaking to him in a soulless voice that almost promises an eternity of pain.

"_I am Harbinger."_

* * *

Yes, sorry that I had to end it so shortly folks. Just couldn't resist putting in such a cliffhanger; but don't worry, the next chapter will be up shortly.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews over the last chapter, if it wasn't for them this chapter wouldn't have been released a lot later. Which reminds me, I should start updating my last two stories as well...

Anyway, hope you like this chapter; apologies for any confusion caused. Read and review please.


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